Chapter 108: Kill

The Eldest Prince departed in a rush, driving his solar chariot.

Xu Zhong had only just caught his breath when a Golden Crow descended from the clouds before him.

"The Eldest Prince said he disdains to strike you himself," the Golden Crow cleared its throat, "so he has dispatched me to do it instead."

"..." Xu Zhong was speechless.

Before the Golden Crow had even finished speaking, Xu Zhong had already eagerly deployed his Purple Jade Gourd and fled the Heaven-Ancient Wolf Mountain.

"Trying to run!"

The Golden Crow hurriedly gave chase. Its speed was immense, and in the blink of an eye, it had caught up to Xu Zhong.

Divine radiance erupted from the creature's eyes, surging forth like a rainbow that eclipsed the sun and moon. Beyond this divine light, threads of solar energy emerged, terrifying and ethereal. Without looking back, Xu Zhong released a sword pellet, which flew out to meet the two beams of divine light.

*Clang! Crack!*

With a strike from the sword pellet, Xu Zhong shattered the divine beams into pieces.

"Disperse!" Xu Zhong commanded softly.

The sword pellet transformed into the Creation Sword Array, channeling the power of Yin.

"Taiyin Sword Array, rise!"

The Creation Sword Array shifted into the Taiyin formation. In an instant, black sword qi surged across the blades, and rolling mists of Taiyin energy filled the air like surging ocean waves, dousing the Golden Crow's solar energy completely.

The Chaos Sea was inherently a place of supreme Yin, a realm of pure, solitary Yin. At this moment, Xu Zhong’s Taiyin Sword Array reached a peak of power, drawing in the surrounding Taiyin energy and amplifying the array’s strength to three or four times its usual capacity.

The Golden Crow frowned as it felt the ambient Taiyin energy. This force was a natural bane to its solar essence.

Solitary Yang cannot thrive; solitary Yin cannot grow.

At this moment, it was no longer a matter of mere suppression; it was a matter of consumption. The Taiyin energy was so vast that it required solar energy to neutralize it, but the amount of solar energy within the creature was negligible—even burning its entire being would have had no effect on the vastness of the Chaos Sea.

Consequently, the Golden Crow retracted its solar energy and unleashed the Golden Crow Fire. This flame, similar to the Samadhi True Fire of human qi-refiners, was forged from its own essence, energy, and spirit. Though less potent than the Solar True Fire, it was still formidable.

Xu Zhong watched as the blindingly brilliant golden clouds of flame descended to envelop him.

The roaring Golden Crow Fire burned fiercely, even melting portions of the Taiyin energy. Xu Zhong seized his Swallowing Cloud Sword, abandoned the array, and unleashed a sword technique.

Great River Sword Intent!

A star-river descended from the heavens while a great river surged up from the earth. The two merged into a single, unstoppable sword light—a strike with the momentum to swallow mountains and rivers—and slashed toward the clouds of Golden Crow Fire.

*Boom!*

The Golden Crow Fire was cleaved in two by the Great River Sword Intent in a single stroke. Xu Zhong used the momentum to step forward, deploying the Six-Foot Pearl to block the Golden Crow’s magical seal, before launching another strike.

"Does the light of a firefly dare to compete with the brilliance of the full moon?" The Golden Crow sneered, extending its hands to perform the Sun-Piercing Rainbow Fist. It unleashed waves of divine light, a magnificent and peerless technique that crashed forward.

The Golden Crow’s fists shattered the star-river sword qi. The light dissipated, and the sword momentum was broken.

"Is that all?" the creature scoffed.

No sooner had the words left its beak than a more brilliant beam of sword light stabbed out from beneath the fragments of the broken attack. In an instant, this light expanded infinitely, illuminating the land for a thousand miles as it swirled toward the creature’s head.

The Golden Crow’s eyes widened in horror. It had never expected a hidden strike within a strike. It hurriedly summoned its Golden Core to release protective divine light, while simultaneously attempting to block with its Sun-Piercing Rainbow Fist.

The sword light was too fast. Before the creature could complete its technique, the blade struck its arm. In an instant, the arm was torn asunder by the sword qi; golden blood sprayed across the sky, and bone and flesh were reduced to a gruesome, mangled mess.

The sword light came to a sudden halt.

The Golden Crow caught its breath, a powerful life force surging to repair the wound. Constant flows of vitality, mixed with golden blood, forcibly reattached the limb. It was but a fleeting moment.

Yet, in that very instant, Xu Zhong had already deployed his sword pellet, scattering 720 flying swords to form a new array.

The swords sealed the four cardinal directions, with a final formation hovering overhead.

The Metal Sword, gleaming with light, channeled Geng and Xin metal energy into a massive White Tiger that descended from the West.
The Wood Sword, lush and vibrant, transformed Jia and Yi wood energy into a giant Azure Dragon coiled in the East.
The Water Sword, resembling black waves, manifested the Yin and Yang of Kui and Ren water, forming a massive Black Tortoise that dominated the North.
The Fire Sword, shaped like a Vermilion Bird, used Bing and Ding fire energy to seal the South.
The Earth Sword manifested as a colossal Yellow Dragon, casting its gaze downward; its Wu and Ji earth energy acted as the final weight, pinning the Golden Crow in place.

Suddenly, the great swords vibrated with killing intent, churning the clouds as they descended in unison.

The Golden Crow trembled in terror, shaking from head to toe.

"I fear I am to die in this sword array."

Despair gripped its heart, but it made one final, desperate struggle. It transformed back into its true Golden Crow form, burning its essence, blood, and cultivation. Using a secret movement technique, it turned into a streak of light and sacrificed half of its Golden Core, gambling its life to tear a hole in the formation.

But as it flew out, it was struck by the Yellow Dragon from above.

*Squelch!*

Such crisp, tearing sounds echoed continuously.

In the blink of an eye, the Golden Crow’s body was covered in gashes. Shreds of flesh and blood, mixed with countless golden feathers, rained down upon the earth.

Suppressing the agony, the creature did not even let out a scream, fleeing for its life. But the great swords followed close behind.

The Fire Sword severed one of its wings; the creature plummeted, stumbling, yet managed to stay aloft. Then, the Water Sword severed its other wing.

It could no longer fly. It fell from the sky, shrieking loudly as it desperately channeled its Wood-Element hidden treasury. Vitality gushed forth like a fountain, covering its wounds. New flesh began to sprout, only to be instantly severed again by the lingering sword qi. The flesh would sprout, only to be cut again—a gruesome tug-of-war.

Fortunately, it had escaped the effective range of Xu Zhong’s array. It poured every ounce of its strength into the Wood-Element treasury, forcing the wings to regenerate before it hit the ground.

The newly grown wings whipped up a gale, stirring the clouds as it shot into the sky with unparalleled speed.

Xu Zhong retracted his array. Reflecting on his life of cultivation—spent either fleeing or on the verge of fleeing—he couldn't help but sigh: "If only I had such speed."

Just as he shook his head in lament, a massive hand reached out from ahead and snatched the Golden Crow from the air.

In an instant, a spray of vibrant, blood-red flowers bloomed before his eyes. A moment later, a dull *thud* echoed from the distance.

A pill cauldron flew out, catching the remains and the Golden Core, refining them into medicinal pellets.

"Zhou Yang?"